Up and down movable plate with marginal sealing



Feb. 25, 1969 K. LASZLO 3, 29,

UP AND DOWN MOVABLE PLATE WITH MARGINAL SEALING Filed Sept. 5, 1967 INVENTOR Him. 05 40 3/ Hm M United States Patent F U.S. Cl. 312-214 6 Claims Int. Cl. F25d 11/00; A47b 81/00; A47f 3/04 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plate upwardly and downwardly movable in a container, such as a refrigerator, in sealing relationship with the container walls has a depending peripheral flange to which a sealing strip encompassing the flange is anchored so that the plate can be slid up and down without losing sealing contact with the container walls.

The invention relates to a plate which is movable up and down in a container in sealing relationship with the walls thereof.

Slidable plates of this kind are used, for instance, in refrigerators in which it is desirable to vary the size and the height of compartments in the refrigerator below the evaporator thereof.

Plates for this purpose are well-known in the art, but the marginal sealing of such plates to the container walls is not satisfactory. There are known sealing means in the form of a rubber strip of circular cross-section which is fitted or pressed into a peripheral groove in the rim of the plate. Such sealing strip can be easily forced out of its groove by rolling out of the same when the plate is moved up and down. Obviously, a displacement of the sealing strip destroys more or less completely the sealing action thereof within the refrigerator space.

There are further known sealing means in which a rubber strip with a lengthwise groove is forced upon the rim of the plate so that it straddles the same. Experience has shown that a sealing strip mounted in such manner also tends to become detached from the plate when the same is moved up or down.

It is a broad object of the invention to provide for plates of the general kind above referred to, a novel and improved sealing means made of rubber or plastic material, which is so strongly anchored to the rim of the plate that there is virtually no danger of detachment thereof, when the plate is moved up and down within a refrigerator or other container.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved plate with sealing means attached to the rim thereof which can be inexpensively manufactured and secured to the plate.

The aforementioned objects, features and advantages and other objects, features and advantages of the invention which will be pointed out hereinafter are obtained by providing on the plate a depending peripheral flange from which anchor members protrude upwardly and downwardly. A sealing strip encompassing the flange is secured to the same by means of the anchor members. As is evident, due to the upward and downward direction of the anchor members, the sealing strip cannot slide off from the flange when the plate is slid upwardly or downwardly.

In the single figure of the accompanying drawing, a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

To simplify the illustration only one sidewall and part of the :rear wall of a container are shown in perspective.

3,429,628 Patented Feb. 25, 1969 The walls may be visualized as part of the inner walls of a refrigerator. The plate, which is to be moved up and down in the container, is shown in section and broken apart, one part of the plate being illustrated with the complete sealing means and the other part for sake of clarity, only with the anchor members on the flange of the plate.

Referring now to the figure more in detail, the figure shows a sidewall 1 and the rear wall 2 of a container. A plate 3, to he slid up and down in the container mounts, a sealing means 4 on the lefthand side of the plate. The righthand side of the plate is left without sealing means to show more clearly the anchoring means for the sealing means. Of course, sealing means are provided on the other sides of the plate also.

The plate is formed with a depending peripheral flange 3' which is normal to the plane of the plate. The flange is preferably provided at all four sides of the plate and supports an anchoring means for the sealing means proper. The anchoring means comprises a plurality of lengthwise spaced upwardly directed tongues 6 preferably pressed out of the material of the plate by techniques known and suitable for the purpose. The anchoring means further comprises a downwardly directed peripheral lip 5 extending downwardly and outwardly from flange 3' along the rim thereof. The tongues and the lip serve to anchor the sealing means 4 to flange 3'. The sealing means comprises a strip 4a made of rubber or a suitable pliable plastic. The lower marginal portion 4' of the strip straddles lip 5 and has for this purpose a generally V-shaped crosssection. Similarly, the upper marginal portion 4" of the strip straddles the upper edge of tongues 6 and has for the purpose a generally U-shaped cross-section. Moreover, the upper part of strip 4a is extended to form a beading 4b of preferably generally semi-circular cross-section. As is clearly shown in the figure, the heading engages the walls of the container.

Due to the provision of upwardly and downwardly directed anchor members a detachment of sealing means 4 from the plate is effectively prevented. Any tendency of the sealing strip to slide upwardly when plate 3 is pushed downwardly is blocked by lip 5 and similarly any tendency of the sealing strip to slide downwardly when the plate is pushed up is blocked by tongues 6.

Accordingly, the sealing arrangement according to the invention assures a satisfactory and long-lasting sealing action irrespective of the direction of movement of the plate in respect to the container walls.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to a certain now preferred example and embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A plate for up and down movement in a container in sealing relationship with the walls thereof, said plate comprising in combination:

a peripheral flange extending from the rim of the plate normal to the plane thereof, said flange mounting outwardly protruding therefrom a plurality of lengthwise spaced anchor members, certain of said anchor members being upwardly directed and others being downwardly directed in reference to the plate; and

an elongate sealing member encompassing said flange on the outside thereof, said sealing member being secured to said anchor members.

2. A plate according to claim 1 wherein said anchor members comprise a plurality of upwardly directed and spaced apart tongues and an outwardly and downwardly slanted lip extending from said peripheral flange.

3. A plate according to claim 2 wherein said sealing member straddles along its upper longitudinal edge said tongues and along its lower longitudinal edge said lip.

4. A plate according to claim 3 wherein the lower marginal portion of the sealing member has an upright V- shaped cross-section and the upper marginal portion of the sealing member has an inverted U-shaped crosssection.

5. A plate according to claim 2 wherein said sealing member has an extension of approximately semicircular cross-section abutting with its rim against the outside wall of said flange.

6. A plate according to claim 2 wherein said tongues are formed out of the material of the flange.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

